


Like the Sunrise

by Epiphanyx7



Series: Best Friends Don't Sleep In The Guest Bedroom [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, Children, Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Male Friendship, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-07 19:05:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/434363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epiphanyx7/pseuds/Epiphanyx7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was five months, three weeks, and two days after his mum left when Merlin arrived.</p>
<p>[[A long time ago, I wrote a story called "Practically Married", a Merlin & Arthur Story where Merlin moves in with Arthur to help him take care of his twin sons after Nimueh leaves him. This is the prequel.]]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like the Sunrise

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Словно рассвет](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4081162) by [imagine_it](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagine_it/pseuds/imagine_it)



It was five months, two weeks, and six days after his mum left, when Owain finally couldn't take it any more.

His dad stumbled around the house looking like a zombie and moving like one too, and Gawain wasn't even talking to either of them. He sat at home silent and still and then he got into fights at school, every day, a new split lip or black eye at recess and Owain could feel everything getting wound tighter and tighter in his stomach. It was a hard lump, sitting there in his tummy, and every bite he had to eat hurt because he missed his mum, he missed his dad being happy and taking them to play footie in the field near their house, he missed his brother just being there for him.

Instead of being happy, his family was just-- breaking apart, and he couldn't do anything about it. Anything at all. And then, in the middle of his weekly visit to Aunt Morgana's, Owain couldn't hold it in any longer.

He pushed away the plate of cookies because he wasn't hungry, barely aware of the sad, surprised sound that she made when he put down his tea mug too. Her fingers stroked over his hair, petting him, but it just made the lump in his stomach feel bigger and lumpier. He wanted to stay stuff - like that he was sad, and lonely, and that he missed his mom, but all the words disappeared in his mouth and when he opened it up to talk, everything went away, it got swallowed up by the lump in his belly.

Aunt Morgana looked down at him with her dark blue eyes and her eyelashes impossibly long along the line of her cheek, and then Owain threw himself into her arms and started to cry.

"Owain?" She said, holding on to him and sounding worried.

He cried and cried until he didn't have tears, and then he held onto her shirt and tried to breathe in her scent, sweet like sugary pastries and not anything like his mum.

-

When he finally fell asleep, exhausted, Morgana put him to bed and then she got out her mobile and called Merlin.

-

It was five months, three weeks, and two days after his mum left when Merlin arrived.

Owain and Gawain had never met Merlin before, although their dad talked about him all the time. He'd say things like "He's a great bloke, Merlin," and "my best mate from Uni, yeah?" but aside from having conversations with him on the phone every week, and emailing back and forth constantly, they hadn't really kept in contact. Merlin, they knew, had been their godfather and he'd been there when they were christened, but he'd spent the next eight or so years traveling abroad and generally being a mysterious figure that occasionally sent presents and was fun to talk to on the phone.

Opening the door to their house at four thirty in the afternoon, Owain had not expected to see the man in person, standing strong and tall in the open doorway, two suitcases at his feet and a garment bag thrown over his shoulder.

"Hello, Owain," Merlin said. "Is your dad in?"

"No," Owain said, standing resolutely in the doorway, feeling the world shift underneath his feet. It was like standing and looking at the sunrise, Merlin's smile lighting up the entire street as he stood with his too-thin shadow falling at Owain's feet.

"Are you here alone?" And then Merlin's smile dropped off of his face, and he looked - upset, not angry but really sad.

"You can come in," Owain said, because he'd recognized Merlin's voice from the telephone, and his face from the pictures, even if the man was taller and quieter and sturdier in person. "Dad had to go pick up Gawain, he'll be back in an hour or so."

Merlin carried his stuff inside, leaving it in front of the door as he looked around. "An hour? You're here, by yourself --"

"No," Owain said. And, right on cue, the doorbell rang once more.

"Owain, are you---" Mrs Murphy stuck her head inside, giving Merlin a suspicious look. "Who are you?"

"My godfather," Owain said. "Bye, Mrs. Murphy," and then he shut the door on her, barely giving her time to get her head out of the way. She was the most irritating nosy neighbour on the planet, which was exactly why his dad always asked her to look in on him.

"Oh," Merlin said, eyebrows lifting. "Well then." He looked around the house, eyeing the scattered clothes and dirty dishes, empty pizza boxes and overturned furniture.

Owain walked back to the living room, sitting down on the couch so he could watch more television.

Merlin walked after him, pausing to look around. "Owain, turn that off and help me clean up, yeah?" He said, starting to pick up. That hadn't been what Owain was expecting, but he paused and turned off the telly. Merlin was toeing off his shoes, holding a large pile of laundry and heading towards the back of the house. Owain considered this, then went to help.

They worked in silence, Merlin occasionally asking for help or where something was supposed to go. Owain followed him and pointed, or helped carry stuff, and didn't mind when Merlin put out all the pizza boxes for recycling, or if he packed away all the garbage and put it outside. He helped Merlin find dishes that had been hidden under pizza crusts and take-out so that they could load them into the dishwasher, and then he walked with Merlin to the corner-store so that they could buy detergent.

It was weird, because he'd never even met Merlin before. But here he was, smiling softly and treating Owain normally, as if Merlin had never encountered a child whose mother hadn't abandoned them, as if it were normal for Owain to stay completely silent for forty minutes.

"Will never liked your dad," Merlin said. "I don't know why, actually. He'd never bothered to explain it properly."

Owain shrugged.

"Yeah, that was my reaction." Merlin agreed. "It's not as if they ever really needed to spend time together... oh, and your Aunt Morgana! I loved her when we were all in Uni, yeah, she was spectacular. I hadn't expected to hear from her, actually, we'd had a bit of a falling out before graduation, so -- well, actually, you don't care about that." He was carrying a bag of groceries, all purchased at the corner store and Owain had kind of liked it, standing in the bright white aisle and letting Merlin tell him what kinds of food they could cook if they bought this can of olives.

"I don't suppose you boys visit your grandfather often, do you?"

Owain shook his head.

Merlin didn't seem surprised. "Yeah, that's got to stop," he said.

-

When Arthur got back, looking exhausted with dark circles under his eyes like bruises, Gawain in tow with a cut on his cheek and the left side of his face swollen up, Merlin had already done a load of laundry and cleaned the living room and kitchen. The dishwasher was rumbling away at a sinkful of dishes, and Merlin was chopping up onions to make pasta sauce.

"Merlin?" Arthur said. His voice cracked.

Gawain paused to gape at the newcomer, looking at Owain and thinking _What the heck is he doing here?_ loud and clear. Owain shrugged and turned back to the homework he'd been neglecting.

"Gawain, you have homework, too, don't you?" Merlin said. "Arthur, go shower while I make dinner."

"Merlin?" Arthur said again.

Merlin stopped what he was doing and smiled at Arthur, a soft smile that was comforting and brilliant and a million other things besides. Owain looked at Arthur, who was staring at Merlin with a look of wonder on his face, and it looked as if his dad had seen the sunrise in Merlin's smile, too.

-

They ate dinner at the kitchen table with clean forks and plates, a real dinner with meatballs and spaghetti and garlic bread. Owain ate a little bit of it, feeling kind of bad for picking at his food. He wasn't hungry though, not really, and he could tell that Gawain was as confused as he was. Their joint confusion and apprehension was rolling around in his stomach, churning and mostly being very uncomfortable, and their dad looked better after his shower but still kind of lousy.

"Here's what's going to happen," Merlin said. "I am going to stay here for a week - don't argue, Arthur," before their dad even had a chance to open his mouth. "One week, and during that time you are going to clean this entire house top to bottom, Arthur, and you are going to do all of the laundry and go grocery shopping. And then I'm going to clear out all of Nimueh's stuff, I'm going to throw it away, and you are going to forget about that bitch."

"Watch your mouth," Arthur said automatically, and then he flushed.

Merlin snorted. "Yes, well, perhaps if you weren't being such an ass, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Get a grip on yourself before your family falls apart, Arthur." And then they finished dinner mostly in silence.

-

Bile and vomit choking him, Owain threw up all over the floor in his room, scrubbing tears away from his eyes. He couldn't remember what the dream had been about, only that there had been - blood - and something else, something worse. Squeezing his eyes shut, he wiped his mouth on his pajama sleeve and then he crawled out of bed, wincing when he saw the pool of vomit on the mattress. His stomach still felt weird. His head was all achy and his mouth tasted bad.

He stumbled out of his room and into the kitchen, where Merlin was standing in his pajama bottoms holding a mug.

"Here," Merlin said, handing him a cup of water. "Rinse your mouth."

Owain obeyed and then sat at the kitchen table while Merlin put the mug of cocoa down in front of him. There were marshmallows floating in it.

"This will settle your stomach," Merlin said, putting two more mugs down onto the kitchen table. "And don't worry, you didn't wake me up. I couldn't sleep."

"The mattress," Owain said, and Merlin nodded at him.

"Yes, the mattress in the spare room is -- awful, really, I'm going to talk to Arthur about replacing it."

There was a loud thump on the stairs, and then Gawain walked into the room, rubbing his eyes. He plonked himself down into the chair next to Owain, reaching for his cocoa with one hand as he passed their blankie to Owain with his other.

"I'm surprised you woke up," Merlin said to him.

Gawain glared, even over his cocoa. "Owain had a nightmare," He said. "I never sleep through those."

Merlin nodded and then they drank their cocoa in silence. Afterward, Merlin collected their mugs and put them in the dishwasher. "Boys," He said. "Your father -- he's all broken up inside, because he really did love your mom. Leaving him - it broke his heart," and the twins froze, not sure if they wanted to hear this.

"I know," Gawain said. "But--"

"But he loves you more," Merlin interrupted him. "I know he does - and I'll get him to fix it, okay? We can put him back together. It's just going to take a little bit of time."

Merlin smiled like the sunrise, he cleaned their kitchen and he cooked them dinner and garlic bread, he knew about Owain's nightmares and he made them cocoa at two o'clock in the morning. If there was anyone who could put their family back together, it was Merlin, Owain could feel that deep in his heart. But Merlin was only going to stay for a week - he'd said so.

"A little bit of time," Owain repeated. Gawain looked at his twin, thinking the same thing - A week isn't long enough - but they turned away from Merlin.

"You can sleep in my room," Gawain said.

-

In the morning, Merlin made them breakfast and Owain's room was all clean, and their dad was nowhere to be seen. "I turned off his alarm and called his office to tell them he'd be taking a sick day," Merlin said. "He needs the sleep. Morgana said she'd drive you two to school today and pick you up as well, so you shouldn't need to worry about anything else."

He packed them lunches as well, checked their backpacks to make sure they had their homework, and then Merlin pulled Gawain aside. "Don't fight today," he said, not stern or warning, but just kind of sad. "Please, Gawain."

Gawain stared at him, not sure what to say.

-

The second night Owain stumbled out of bed, Merlin was waiting outside his room with a clean pair of pajamas and a pillow. Gawain was beside him, half-asleep on his feet, swaying with only Merlin's hand on his shoulder keeping him upright. "Come on, then," Merlin said, helping Owain out of his vomit-covered pajamas and into the clean set. "We're going to go sleep with your dad."

Arthur wasn't awake, but Merlin pulled back the covers and tucked Owain in right next to him, his head pillowed on his dad's arm. Arthur breathed softly, his breath warm against Owain's hair. Gawain curled up against him on the other side, one of his hands curled tight in his brother's sleeve, sound asleep as soon as he was horizontal.

Merlin pulled the covers up over them, sighing as he crawled into bed on Arthur's other side. Owain waited, half-asleep, until Merlin's breathing evened out, until it matched Arthur's and Gawain's. And then Owain finally fell asleep.

-

One month after Merlin arrived, Gawain saw him putting his suitcases into the storage room. "I won't be needing those any time soon," Merlin said, grinning. "Now, what's this I hear about you wanting to learn how to skate?"

Owain nodded. "I want to play hockey."

"I want to figure skate," Gawain said.

"We're going to do both," Owain said. “Together.”

Merlin nodded and then walked to the kitchen with the boys trailing after him. "Are you still having nightmares?" He asked.

Owain shrugged. "The dream-catcher is working, I think."

Gawain nodded his agreement.

"Well then," Merlin said, turning to the kitchen and wrinkling his brow. "What should we have for dinner?"


End file.
